REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, HOUSTON -- Plunging oil prices sparked a drop of almost 40 percent in new well permits issued across the United States in November, in a sudden pause in the growth of the U.S. shale oil and gas boom that started around 2007.

Data provided exclusively to Reuters on Tuesday by industry data firm Drilling Info Inc showed 4,520 new well permits were approved last month, down from 7,227 in October.

The pullback was a "very quick response" to US vcrude prices, which settled on Tuesday at 66.88 USD CLc1, said Allen Gilmer, chief executive officer of Drilling Info.

New permits, which indicate what drilling rigs will be doing 60-90 days in the future, showed steep declines for the first time this year across the top three US onshore fields: the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford in Texas and North Dakota's Bakken shale.

The Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico showed a 38 percent decline in new oil and gas well permits last month, while the Eagle Ford and Bakken permit counts fell 28 percent and 29 percent, respectively, the data showed.

That slide came in the same month US crude oil futures fell 17 percent to 66.17 USD on Nov. 28 from 80.54 USD on Oct. 31. Prices are down about 40 percent since June.

US prices fell below 70 USD a barrel last week after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to maintain output of 30 million barrels per day. Analysts said the cartel is trying to squeeze US shale oil producers out of the market.

Total US production reached an average of 8.9 million barrels per day in October, and is expected to surpass 9 million bpd in December, the highest in decades, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

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